The Required Change

Teaching  no longer remains a noble profession despite being noble. The so called academicians are concerned about every other thing excluding teaching. Mostly no one is concerned how the teaching is progressing or have the students understood whatever is being taught. The ones who are concerned are just a handful academicians who put in every effort to impart knowledge to their classes. The students today are mostly people pleasers who hover like bees around the teacher trying to flatter her / him for marks. Many of them are highly irregular and still expect the teacher to give them marks for attendance. 

Since I entered the field in 2005 as a teacher, I was full of remorse for the initial years because my students would not hover around me compared to my colleagues. Only the ones who genuinely understood my personality came to me. With time I realized that a popular teacher is not always a good teacher and a good teacher is not always popular. I fall in the category of not being popular as I am strict, disciplined and have a code of conduct for my classes. Majority of the students would not be my fan but those who understand the importance and value of this behavior have always stayed in touch and are on my contact list forever. The system gets deteriorated by such teachers who pamper and do the unnecessary sweet talk during their classes instead of focusing on the lessons. The tragic part is that students today prefer such teachers who time pass during classes instead of teachers who teach meticulously and genuinely show them the real path.

The lethargic attitude of unprofessional teachers has marred the beauty of  the noble profession. When a teacher wastes one hour of the lecture in talking about every other thing that has no connection with the syllabus, the teacher is risking the life of all the students who are listening / compelled to listen to her / him for the attendance. If a teacher wants to impart knowledge on the other things the teacher must try to accommodate such sessions when both the parties are free. First priority must be given to the syllabus and the practical knowledge sessions based on the syllabus. A teacher can also arrange talk sessions for the students; but nothing at the cost of the syllabus and its teaching.

Students today, want a college life that is full of excitement and gives them a high and because of this they cannot sit in classes. Sitting in classes makes them restless and bored. This is the reason why new techniques in ELT and ICT tools are the 'in thing' today. If the country wants to prosper the youth must be guided and motivated on the right path. A teacher cannot play with the future of a child; a teacher must teach, preach and give practice to demonstrate the level of knowledge that is imparted. One finds a handful students in a class who will obey the teacher, value what is being taught and stay on the right track of learning. 

As time changes, people change. But the drastic change in the behavior and attitude of teachers and students is shocking. Education cannot survive if a student does not respect the teacher and if a teacher is not considerate towards the student. The system needs to embrace the humanly approach and values that are linked with imparting education in order to survive. Human sensitivity  which is missing today must be foremost at all levels. Both teacher and student are two sides of the same coin. Both need to keep abreast of changing times in this era of cut throat competition and cooperate to nurture a healthy and conducive environment in the classroom. By doing this a teacher can make a difference in translating her / his passion for teaching into the student's passion for learning.